Aki Shiroshita (Epidemiology PhD student, akihiro.shiroshita@vanderbilt.edu) developed a tailored version of DeGAUSS specifically for the EV project.
About Original DeGAUSS
DeGAUSS (https://degauss.org/) is designed to derive environmental variables while preserving the privacy of protected health information (PHI). It uses Docker images to process address data: users upload a CSV file containing address information and receive an output file with various environmental variables.
Limitations of Original DeGAUSS
Not optimized for very large datasets.
Requires input and output files to be stored in the same folder.
Improvements in the Modified DeGAUSS
Avoid reliance on Docker as much as possible.
Utilize C and C++ in the backend wherever possible.
Enable parallel processing with multiple cores.
Restrict environmental data to Tennessee only, not the entire U.S.
Modified DeGAUSS provides clean, processed output files with all PHI removed.
How to Use Modified DeGAUSS
The environment has already been set up for you. All you need to do is follow the instructions.
Step-by-Step Instructions:
- Locate the Folder:
Navigate to the folder “C:_degauss_2025_08_14” on the Windows server (Cqshealth.dhcp.mc.vanderbilt.edu).
- Open R Project:
Launch R Studio.
Note: It may take 1–2 minutes to open, as the R Studio settings have been customized for this project.
- Start Docker Desktop:
Open Docker Desktop for Windows.
- Run the Script:
Open the file test.R.
Execute the script section by section using the shortcut:
Place your cursor in the section and press Ctrl + Alt + T.
- Locate Output Files:
Processed data will be saved in any folder of your choice.
Specific instructions for Huiping
- Map your shared drive containing address information to our Windows server
Note: Your data will remain on the shared drive and will never leave the VUMC environment.The server will load data into memory for processing, but data will not be stored in local server folders. Any temporary cache generated during processing will be automatically removed. Once you complete all the processes, I will delete modified DeGAUSS.
- Folder choice
After removing all PHI data, the processed output files can be saved in a folder of your choice. Please specify which folder you would like to use for storing the processed data.
Delete modified DeGAUSS
Once all processes are completed and the required outputs are finalized, I will delete the modified DeGAUSS from the server.